


Starlight in Starling: Orion, the Hunter

by BardicRaven



Series: Starlight in Starling [3]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Archery, Astronomy, Bows & Arrows, Cages, Constellations, Hunters & Hunting, Philosophy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-28
Updated: 2014-12-28
Packaged: 2018-03-04 01:40:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2904590
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BardicRaven/pseuds/BardicRaven
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Death is the only way to stay alive.</p><p>The ultimate irony.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Starlight in Starling: Orion, the Hunter

**Author's Note:**

  * For [](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts).



> _my continued thanks to atlashearts, without whom this series would not be possible..._

_His eyes were like a car crash. His eyes could see through supernovas and seas.  
Vega - Atlashearts_

 

Oliver Queen is a hunter.

The fact that his prey is human, or what passes for it in the middle of death and starvation of the soul, makes no difference.

He hunts in the grey of the city, rather than the green of the forest, but he is a hunter for all that.

And like any hunter, he knows that extreme measures are what it takes to keep the people alive.

Death is the only way to stay alive.

The ultimate irony.

And whether it is the life of the body or the life of the soul, there are times when the only way to save it is with a bow, arrows flying through the star-spangled night, seeking their prey, so that the predator can live another day.

Like any hunter, he may not dare to show mercy to any – not his prey, not his friends, and certainly not himself.

Protection is his only thought – protecting the people from starvation, the prey from disease, and the populace from himself.

Iron walls definitely make a cage.

And Oliver Queen has caged himself away.

He claims it is for the protection of the people, but, if he dared to look deeper, he would be forced to admit it is for the protection of his own heart.

An iron eggshell to contain his real-and-imagined evil. But the thing is, eggshells protect from without, not within.

And what of the explosion when the eggshell finally breaks, strained beyond all bearing?

What then of the hunter unleashed?

His eyes hold both creation and destruction underneath the blue, blue vault of heaven.

In his hands lies the power to change worlds, arrows shot through the star-spangled night.

But the choice? 

Which path to take?

Life? Or death?

For himself? His city?

That lies within his scarred, scared heart. 

And that terrifies the hunter in a way nothing else can, nothing else does.

Arrows shot into a blue, blue sky, daring to reach heaven's hold, free from earthly bonds, tho' which bonds he could not tell you.

Would not.

Will not.

For those lie within his scarred, scared heart, a prison he does not dare to open.

The one place his courage fails him.

Like any hunter, he may not dare to show mercy to any – not his prey, not his friends, and certainly not himself.

Oliver Queen is a good hunter.

**Author's Note:**

> ##### I'm enjoying the Journey. Hope you are as well.
> 
> ##### Write on! :D
> 
> ##### -B!


End file.
